More and more people are affected by osteoarthritis (joint wear, degenerative joint disease, arthrosis deformans). This illness is a rheumatic disease and in many cases—especially in acute phases—it is accompanied by painful inflammations. The pain is caused by the degeneration of joint cartilage. There are various factors which can lead to damage to cartilage. In addition to damage as a result of accidents, excessive stress on joints and congenital deformities of the joints, metabolic disorders, a lack of exercise and also an unhealthy diet are some of the major causes.
The starting point of each case of osteoarthritis is damage to the cartilaginous cover, the so-called “cartilage damage”. Initially this damage is often limited to just a small area of a few square centimeters and it is also still only superficial. X-ray pictures show the first signs of the bone hardening a short time later and it is always areas of bone lying directly under the diseased cartilage which are affected. These additional changes to the bone are a conclusive sign of the early stages of osteoarthritis. Without these changes to the bone there is just “bone damage”, not “osteoarthritis”. Osteoarthritis thus always means cartilage damage with changes to the bone.
Osteoarthritis is a painful, chronic illness for the people affected and it impairs nearly all their activities. The consequences are pain, phases of inflammation, swelling, deformation and stiffening of the joints. The extent and manifestation of these phenomena can vary greatly for each joint and each stage, however. Freedom of movement is severely restricted.
In their search for some relief many patients turn to over-the-counter or prescription drugs, undergo protracted physiotherapy or even submit themselves to operations. All these treatments often provide only short-term relief from the pain, however. In most cases destruction of the cartilage continues inexorably with the result that the pain becomes worse and the limitations in movement more serious.
An inflammation (Latin: inflammatio) is a characteristic response of biological tissue to an irritation triggered externally or internally, and its function is to eliminate or repair the injurious irritation. An inflammation can be present in a localised area or as a systemic inflammation reaction. In this example arthritis is a major factor in determining the pain of osteoarthritis. With arthritis, the five signs of inflammation (reddening, excessive warmth, swelling, pain and limited function) can all be observed in most cases within its chronic course. The redness and excessive warmth, for example, are often a warning sign, even if a short one, of an incipient flare-up of inflammation which will soon be followed by the pain phase. With the joints often having widened already, the swelling is frequently hardly noticed any more. The limited function may then be regarded as the result of the pain and in marked forms as the result of malpositions.
There are thus two ways to combat inflammations caused by damage to cartilage and therefore to improve the pain situation and to reduce the joint stiffness for the patients:
The first approach involves the supportive self-healing of the body through cartilage-protective substances. Nutritional supplements with collagen hydrolysate for healthier and more functional joints are available on the market and can be used for this purpose. They serve to strengthen the collagen in the joint and to support its regeneration. In Orthopädische Praxis (2005, 10, 41: 565-568), Dr. S. Oesser describes the influence of the collagen fragments on the new synthesis and degradation of the extracellular cartilage matrix. The collagen hydrolysate used in this publication and in the examples of this application comes from type 1 collagen. This has a stimulating effect on the formation of the type 2 collagen as well as on pericellular proteoglycan biosynthesis. Type 2 collagen contains approximately 70% of the quantitatively most important component (of joint cartilage) and provides elasticity and strength. A study by Dr. Roland W. Moskowitz in Semin Arthritis Rheum (2000, 30: 87-99) concludes that a daily dose of 10 g collagen hydrolysate leads to a significant reduction in the pain suffered by arthritic patients.
Furthermore, preparations with glucosamine sulphate (daily dose of 0.75 g-1.5 g) and/or chondroitin sulphate (daily dose 0.4 g-0.8 g) are readily available which likewise claim to have a protective effect on the cartilage. A publication by A. A. Brief in J. Am. Acad. Orthop. Surg. (2001, 9: 71-78) documents a corresponding effect.
The second approach is the suppression of the inflammation and/or the reduction of inflammation mediators. These mediators, e.g. cytokines, produce a defence reaction which is too strong.
The natural reaction of the body to fight inflammation is to release corticoids. It therefore seemed reasonable to synthesise cortisol derivatives and to market these as anti-inflammatory drugs. Prednisolone and dexamethasone are still the last resort today as they are very powerful drugs. Long-term treatment leads to severe side effects, however, such as striae, muscular atrophy, changes to the blood count and diabetes mellitus type 2.
The preferred alternatives today for long-term therapy are non-steroidal antirheumatics (NSAR) and COX-2 inhibitors. Diclofenac, ibuprofen, indometacin and oxicame also have potential side effects, however, ranging from gastrointestinal problems to gastric ulcers and damage to the liver or kidneys.
Medicinal herbs found in naturopathy have been used in many civilisations for hundreds of years and they are noted for having very few, if any, side effects. The classically recognised phytopharmaceuticals include phyteuma, commonly known as rampion. While the active principle of, for instance, willow bark with salicin, appears to have been explained, much research is still being carried out into other plants.
Rosehip, as a classical food plant, has surprisingly emerged as a potent antiphlogistic. Rosehip is a compound fruit containing many small nuts. The fruit is harvested in late autumn. Its flesh comes from the fleshy bottom part of the fruit and is sweet and sour and rich in vitamins, in particular vitamin C (ascorbic acid) but also vitamins A, B1 and B2. Traditionally, rosehip is used as a substitute for vitamin C to treat colds and flu-like infections. Vitamin C also plays an important role in the regeneration of collagen in the joint cartilage and is necessary to keep bones and supporting tissue healthy. The U.S. Pat. No. 6,024,960 describes the correlation between a high vitamin C content and an anti-inflammatory effect of preparations made from rosehip. In the U.S. Pat. No. 6,485,752 B1, the combination of a rosehip concentrate with fish oil is protected which is aimed at a high vitamin C content in the extract and at unsaturated fatty acids in the fish oil.
According to reports, an improvement of movement and of well-being can be achieved by taking rosehip powder. A research group headed by Prof. Dr. Kharazmi at the University of Copenhagen studied the effects of a rosehip powder with joint-related arthritis problems in 2004 and isolated a galactolipid proportion using a “complicated fractionation process”. The galactolipid “GOPO®” was patented in conjunction with the manufacturing process for rosehip powder (EP 1 071 439). It was able to be proven in vitro that this galactolipid inhibits the migration of polymorphonuclear leucocytes, and in vivo that it reduces the serum concentration of C-reactive protein (CRP). In a clinical study, the CRP value fell by an average of 39% after just 10 days. A placebo-controlled cross-over study was carried out with 112 patients suffering from osteoarthritis and a daily dose of 5 grams of rosehip powder (LitoZin®) was investigated. The study showed a significant alleviation of morning stiffness with 66% of those taking part in the study after taking the rosehip powder for three months. Additionally, in the dietotherapy with rosehip it was possible to reduce the consumption of pain-relief medication such as opioids, tramadol, paracetamol and NSAR by around half. The rosehip powder used in the product LitoZin® is standardised to a substance containing 175 ppm and may be described as inhomogeneous on visual inspection. This is revealed in varying particle sizes across multiple batches (coarse particle of 20% between 0.5-0.7 mm to ultrafine constituents of 40% between 0.05-0.2 mm). A systematic overview by C. Chrubasik et al. in Phytotherapy Research (2006, 20:1-3) summarises the clinical data on rosehip powders.
The rosehip powders used are poorly characterised and/or standardised. The amounts to be taken of up to 10 g are very large due to the low concentration of the active substances. There is thus still the need for characterised and/or standardised rosehip products exhibiting a high level of effectiveness per unit of weight.
The task of the present invention is to provide an easily tolerated agent which is anti-inflammatory and which in particular can be used to treat joint problems and joint-related illnesses.
The task is solved by means of a composition containing an anti-inflammatory plant extract from rosehip together with a cartilage-protective substance.